CPM move may crack Left Front in Telangana

As the Opposition unity lies in tatters in Telangana following CPM's reluctance to join hands with the anti-BJP and anti-TRS parties, the Congress central leadership is reaching out to the party to reason with it on why its presence is important in the coalition.

If the CPM Telangana unit sticks to its decision, the Left Front in the state could be in tatters even as the CPI has decided to back the grand alliance proposal floated by the TDP and Congress.

The grand alliance backers want CPM, CPI and Telangana Jana Samiti to be part of the Congress-TDP plans and the CPI has already given its nod.

Sources said the senior Congress leaders have discussed the issue with CPM central leadership to impress upon the party why a united face must be put up against the BJP.

TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu has left it to his party's state unit to decide on how to build a broad alliance with the Congress and others.

With buzz gaining ground that the TRS could eventually land up in the BJP stable, Congress leaders and a section in the Left are of the view that a broad coalition was needed to tackle the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led ruling party, which advanced the Assembly polls by dissolving the House.

The Telangana CPM state committee, which has floated a Bahujan Left Front (BLF), will be meeting next week, where it will prepare its report on possible coalition partners for the central leadership.

The CPM Polit Bureau is meeting on September last week and the Central Committee will be held in the first week of October to take a final call on the issue.

The CPM state unit's move has its genesis in the factional fight in the party over the relationship with the Congress even as Hyderabad Party Congress has opened doors for the Left party to have a pragmatic electoral understanding with it.

Polit Bureau member B V Raghuvulu, who is aligned with former CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat who takes a strident anti-Congress line, has a say in how the Telangana unit swings and most of them in the state unit feel that a tie-up with TDP and Congress is not going to help their cause.

Sources said the anti-Congress camp in the CPM believes that it is too early to say that Rao will go the BJP way as he may join the UPA camp if it has numbers in post Lok Sabha polls.

However, the opponents counter it saying that the Opposition could get numbers only if it fights jointly while Rao has given ample indications of his BJP inclination by preponing the Assembly elections.

While a section in the CPM wants TDP as an ally, the dominant faction in the Telangana unit is in favour of aligning with actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party, keeping in mind its influence in Andhra Pradesh.

The backers of the pro-Congress, pro-TDP alliance feel that their alliance is a formidable opposition to the TRS, which may extend a hand of friendship to Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM with an eye on minority votes, while the BJP is a minor player in the state.

"We could squeeze TRS if we form a grand coalition," a senior Opposition leader told DH.